Emily Stimpson (whom I don’t think I know except through her writing) has an excellent post from earlier today.

Basically, part of the problem we’re faced with in crises like the HHS mandate on contraception and attempts to redefine marriage is that the Catholic faithful hardly know the Church’s teachings and many of us have not been living them. Even those of us who are regular church-goers may be shaky on the issues because we rarely hear about them.

For decades, post Vatican II, the Catholic Church has been trying to hammer out the roles of the clergy and the laity while at the same time trying to handle a host of other serious issues. I think the HHS mandate made it abundantly clear that we have a lot of work to do. It should have started a long time ago, but nevertheless it has to happen soon if we’re going to be able to exist freely as a Church.

Read more here.